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List of English Test Cricketers
This is a list of English Test cricketers. A Test match is an international cricket match between two of the leading cricketing nations. The list is arranged in the order in which each player won his Test cap. Where more than one player won his first Test cap in the same Test match, those players are listed alphabetically by surname. In the text, the numbers that follow the players' names correspond to their place in the chronological list of English Test cricketers. Statistics for these players are correct as of the third Test of England's Test series against Sri Lanka. (22 December 2007) The early years (1877-1889) The early years of Test cricket saw a number of tours to Australia. Most of these tours were professional in nature, and as the sea voyage was around 42 days and the tours lasted many months, the sides were selected as much on availability as on cricketing aptitude. As a result of this, coupled with there only being a small number of Tests being played, there are many early cricketers with Test records of only a few matches. The key players who had their Test debut during this period include the great professional all-rounders George Ulyett (11), who played 25 Tests, and Billy Barnes (21), who played 21. England's Champion cricketer WG Grace (24) first played Test cricket in 1880. Although Test match cricket had not been invented in his heyday of the late 1860s and 1870s, he continued playing into his fifties, finally retiring from Test cricket at the turn of the century. Shrewsbury (35) and Stoddart (16) go down amongst the great captains of the period, as well as two of the many cricketing suicides. Johnny Briggs (47), who bedevilled by mental illness died tragically young, notched up the most Test caps of the earliest era of Test match cricket. See also: History of Test cricket (to 1883), History of Test cricket (1884 to 1889) The Golden Age (1890-1914) The period between 1890 to immediately before the First World War is known as the golden age of cricket. It saw great amateur players such as CB Fry (95), the Indian Prince Ranjitsinhji (105) and captains Stanley Jackson (82), Archie MacLaren (92) and Plum Warner (118) as the leading lights in an era eulogised by Neville Cardus and others. In reality, it was not quite the great age of the amateur related in Cardus's writings. Sydney Barnes (129) became the best paid cricketer by spurning county cricket to play in the Lancashire leagues. However, the sheer volume of greats, that include Jack Hobbs (157), Tom Hayward (97), Gilbert Jessop (122) and Wilfred Rhodes (121) means that the age retains a fond place in the memory of England's cricket fans. It was also an era in which Bernard Bosanquet (137) invented the googly and Tip Foster (138) became the only man to captain England at both cricket and football, and Rhodes, at 30 years, 10 months and 11 days, had the longest spanning Test career of all. The inter-war years (1919-1939) The post-war years (1946-1959) The 1960s The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s The 21st century Players who first debuted in the 21st century form the nucleus of the current English Test team, with Hoggard (602), Trescothick (603), Harmison (611) and Strauss (624) being mainstays of the current Test squad. The period has been a successful one for England, who went through 2004 undefeated, and who, as of September 2005, have won six consecutive Test series and are ranked second in the Test Championship table to Australia. A number of the players here such as Key (612), Batty (619) and Collingwood (622) continue to compete for Test places. Some experiments have been made over the period, though, and intriguingly none of the class of 2001 or 2003 are England regulars now. The debuts of new players of South Asian extraction, such as Monty Panesar, Owais Shah and Sajid Mahmood, suggests a new potentially rich seam of talent may become available to the English team. Notes: *1 Billy Midwinter, John Ferris, Billy Murdoch, Sammy Woods and Albert Trott also played Test cricket for Australia. Only their records for England are given above (see below for their full Test match records). *2 Frank Hearne and Frank Mitchell also played Test cricket for South Africa. Only their records for England are given above (see below for their full Test match records). *3 Nawab of Pataudi Sr. also played Test cricket for India. Only his record for England is given above (see below for his full Test record). *4 Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison have also played Test cricket for the ICC World XI. Only their records for England are given above (see below for their full Test match records). Rest of the World cricketers The 1970 series In 1970 the proposed tour of England by South Africa was cancelled in the wake of protests against the policy of apartheid then in place in South Africa. To replace the South African tourists five games were played in England between England and a Rest of the World side. At the time, these matches were billed as full Tests and treated as such by the players and the English authorities. Later, the ICC ruled that these matches did not have Test status. Only one player, Alan Jones failed to win a cap in another series, and so is the only player ever to have won a Test cap, only to have it taken away. Had these matches retained Test status, the above records would have been amended as follows (the number of Test cap refers to the actual number as shown above, not what that number would have been had these matches retained Test status): The 2005/6 series In October 2005 the first ever ICC Super Series was contested. It included a six-day game between the World Champions as of the start of 2005, who were Australia, and the Rest of the World. This game was awarded Test status by the ICC. The records given above only state the records for matches played for England. The complete Test match records for the England players who competed in this Test match are shown below together with the full records of other players who have played Test cricket for more than one team. Players who have played Test cricket for more than one team A number of cricketers have played Test match cricket for England and another Test match team. The cap numbers refer to the England cap numbers that are given above. The complete records for these players is below: See also *Test cricket *English cricket team References *Cricinfo *''Howstat'' *Cricket Equipment UK Cricket Suppliers for over 50 years! * England Test Test cricketers